Sekai no Shodai
by Shodai's Arc
Summary: The battle between Madara and the combination of Sasuke and Naruto has reached a climax. The war ends...with Naruto's death...but peace settles in the lands...but for some, there are battle to be fought. What now?
1. Chapter 1 - Ikutsu Ka no Tori

'_..normal thoughts..'_

"…normal speech…"

**Disclaimer: All Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Nothing here is mine except the plot itself.**

**Chapter 1: Birds Flying in the Sky **

From above, dark, booming clouds began to recede, slowly revealing a devastated landscape. All about, dust permeated the air, hiding from sight the conclusion of the battle that had transpired within. Grounds were filled with cracks and craters, mountains shaved, cut clean, and forests ignited and uprooted from life. A roaring hurricane gradually dissipated into powerful, roaring winds sliding across the landscape, bringing, yet, even more dust about.

Within the debris of all the destruction, at the epicenter of a mile long crater, laid a being surrounded by black chakra. Uchiha Madara's body laid split and burnt, torso and arms on their own, head severed, and legs gone. Kindles of clear, transparent chakra persistently and slowly burned away at the separate limbs scattered around.

Sasuke leaned against the raised rim of the crater, panting heavily, exhausted of chakra. Guiding the technique had taken its toll. And even before that, wielding the flames of Amaterasu as a sword had tired him. His vision blurred, but he could still make out the black positive chakra surrounding Madara. His cloak of white negative chakra were also bubbling back into existence as well. _'Kuso..…he is still alive…but..where's Naruto?'_

"Naruto! Where ar-," he coughed out blood, "where are you?"

As his eyes gained their focus, he caught movement of a piles of rock across of him on the other side of the crater. A hand emerged from the pile, and soon, Naruto had climbed out of it, visibly exhausted and wounded. His Kyubi-mode was gone. His cloak was gone and his meshed-net shirt was utterly ripped, and red with blood Three deep, gaping cuts across his torso revealed glimpses of his collarbone and ribs, blood still oozing out to paint his chest.

"Heh! Sasuke! How'd you like our Shippuden no juts—"

_Krack!_

And Naruto spurted out blood from his mouth, _'Ha..ha..I..think…I am..dying..'_

He looked down at his chest and realized what had just happened. A part of his rib cage had broken off and poked his lung, threatening to pierce through, _'Shimatta..I can't believe…it…'_

Naruto switched his attention to Sasuke's shocked expression. His vision was fading. He saw a couple birds flying about in the sky beyond the mountains, many miles away. He smiled.

"Gomen-ne…Sasuke…and…Itachi…seems like I couldn't keep my promise…," said Naruto as he gave himself into oblivion, _'Gomen-ne otou-san…Hinata-chan…Kakashi-sensei…Sakuras-chan…m inna-san…'_

The last thing he had heard was Sasuke's voice.

"**Sarutahiko no Hikari**!"

* * *

**_Weeks later in Konohagakure…_**

_Beep-beep….Beep-beep….Beep-beep…._

He heard the sound of a heart rate monitor. _'Hmm?...What's that…annoying sound?_'

He tried opening. His eyelids lifted up slightly, struggling. They felt heavy. His nose picked up the smell of anesthesia in the air.

'_…I am…in a hospital…_'

_Beep-beep….Beep-beep….Beep-beep…._

'_Why is it so quiet?_' Then, a thought struck him, '_wait…we were…fighting Madara and then…I…._'

"_…ended him…_"

Suddenly, he sensed movements. He could hear unrestrained, rushing footsteps approaching in his direction. '_Chikkusho…! I can't move my body..!_'

He heard the door swing open! '_This chakra…it is familiar…_'

"Sasuke-kun! Are you alright?" cried a voice, crushed with worry, threatening to crack and break into sobs.

Sasuke tensed. '_I-I…know this voice…she is…_'

He felt her arms attempting to wrap around his chest and the softness of her hair brush by the crevices of his neck. And then, he felt the throb. It was a throbbing pain. It wasn't coming from his injuries or her weight on his presently weakened, aching body helplessly laying on a bed. This pain was much more familiar to him. Pain from the heart. And yet, this was a new pain. A new helplessness. A new frustration. He had failed to save Naruto. "Sa…Sa…Sak-"

His voice was weak, raspy. The air didn't flow out and the pressure to vibrate his vocal cords were almost nonexistent. He felt Sakura's tears flowing down his neck, spreading onto the bed sheets, and her grasp on his shirt tightening. Soon, he felt them in his eyes. His own tears had begun to build up, and even sooner, they had crept down across his cheeks and onto Sakura's before joining the flow that had reached the bed sheets.

Sasuke mustered up all the strength he had and raised his one movable hand to support Sakura. His embrace was weak and yet, it withheld a torrent of emotions.

"Sakura…I…I am sorry."

He felt the brush of hair smelling like cherry blossoms move side to side. She shook her head, her face still buried against his shoulder.

"You are wrong Sasuke-kun…It's my fault. I was too weak…and couldn't protect and help you two…again."

She sobbed harder, louder, all the pain she had buried the past couple of days beginning to surface above a shell she had built. Her coping mechanism. "I also failed Kakashi-sensei…he is in a coma. I couldn't save him either…I am sorry, Sasuke-kun…it's me…IT'S ALL BECAUSE I COULDN'T DO ANYTHING! I WAS TOO WEAK! FORGIVE ME KAMI…!"

He felt his shirt pulled even tighter by her grip. And then, her spirit had broken. The pain had taken over and wrapped itself around her heart. He could feel it. And she cried….

…For a loss that seemed too large and unreal to fathom, to live through….for the both of them.

Naruto had died. And everyone else had lived.

'_I am sorry…Naruto…I-_' Sasuke opened his eyes, and…

He cried too.

Drips and drops had become a steady stream, and then, they were unrestrainable.

Sasuke thought of the meaning of a shinobi once again. '_One who endures…I don't think…I can…_'

After all, he had lost a brother…again.

And he had been saved by a brother….again.

And time went by with tears and pain and broken endurances. Night came and there laid two torn souls, tired of life's ways, and yet, resting to see what tomorrow will bring.

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

[Author's Note]

Hello fellow readers! So I had a dream after re-reading the entire manga series to date, and was inspired to write about it. I know I posted half of this last week, but that was just to make sure that I was definitely going to commit to this thing. Like Shikamaru, I find lots of things troublesome haha. Anyways, I am not asking for reviews. I just write and I hope you read and enjoy. However, because I am new to this type of writing, I ask for your guidance and opinions. Thank you very much-appu!


	2. Chapter 2 - Tori no Sūhyaku

'_..normal thoughts..'_

"…normal speech…"

**Disclaimer: All Naruto characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Nothing here is mine except the plot itself.**

**Chapter 2: A Hundred Birds Fluttering About**

_Another explosion resonated the land. Hundreds of birds wildly flew away from the battlefield. Both of Sasuke's and Naruto's jutsus had missed their target again. _

_Madara stood atop a cliff, contemplating his next move. His body was nothing, but a materialization of pure, negative white chakra. A cloak of positive black chakra enshrouded his frame. The nine-tails jinchuuriki and the young Uchiha have proven to be tougher than he thought. 'That Uchiha child…isn't so bad. Too bad the nine-tails boy seems to have deceived him into Hashirama's foolishness.'_

_"Chikusho! How can he still be so fast?!" complained the blonde Jinchuuriki, panting, "Sasuke! Got any ideas?"_

_Sasuke, panting, glanced at Naruto and shrugged. "I don't know, dobe. Your stupidity is spreading to me."_

_Sasuke's sharingan continued to swirl, scanning for any changes in Madara's chakra body. 'Something is different…'_

_Madara narrowed his eyes, 'seems like he has noticed. I guess I will have to be a bit rougher.'_

_A series of seals flashed through Madara's hands, "Inochiryoku-ton: Sōsaku no Shi!"_

_Suddenly, bits of the white and black chakra from his body separated from his body, and took on the form of giant scythe. It had a single blade, shaped very much like a slightly-stretched magatama, which expanded to about five feet. The handle-rod, colored red and green with hints of gold, had a demon-like head at the mouth of the blade, extending to about 10 feet. _

_Sasuke's eyes widened, ''Naruto! That thing is fully concentrated with chakra for a Bijuudama! Don't get hit by it!"_

_Madara smirked, "Hashirama failed to stop me… And so will you! Gyahahahaha!"_

_In less than a tenth of a second, Madara had closed the distance between them and slashed at the two young shinobi. A resounding boom was heard from the impact with the earth and a giant meter-deep slash decorated the ground where Naruto and Sasuke had both been standing. The incisions on the ground glowed with grey chakra that slowly voided the affected area of life force and chakra. _

_Naruto gulped. "Worse than a Bijuudama!"_

_"It is pointless to fight me… As you both can see, I have surpassed even the Sage of Six Paths! I have manipulated and unified myself with the chakra that makes up this world. With Juubi and I as one, I have become the all-powerful being! I am the Sage and the Juubi both in one…! Gyahahaha!" declared Madara, the rings in his Rinnegan spinning wildly._

_Sasuke looked at Naruto and sighed, "Naruto! I'm going to try Izanami on him! Stand bac-"_

_Naruto had teleported in front of him, his back facing him, "Sasuke! I have a plan! Let's combine our…"_

_Hovering above them once again, Madara simply watched and waited for whatever they were going to try. He didn't care. He would simply smash through it. 'Still, I should be careful.'_

_"Inochiryoku-ton: Sekiryoku no Manto…" _

_Around Madara's positive black chakra, a layer of grey energy formed. Madara prepared himself for the youngsters' idea to strike. _

_Naruto and Sasuke noticed the extra layer of grey chakra around. Sasuke's eyes observed that the space around the Madara appeared to be distorted, almost as if he was eating away at time and space's existence. "Naruto…that's the same chakra that erases chakra. It's uselss..!"_

_"Shut up, teme! Get your ass here! I am starting the jutsu!" Naruto yelled. _

_Sasuke sighed and jumped towards Naruto. _

_"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twenty clones of Naruto puffed into existence. 'If chakra-powered jutsu won't work yet, let's try this…' Eighteen of them jumped towards Madara, launching sets of kunai and shuriken at the man. Madara raised an eyebrow. He swung his scythe and block all the incoming trajectories. The clones landed and separated into groups of three to build their own wind-based Rasenshuriken. They launched It towards Madara's direction. _

_Meanwhile, Sasuke had prepared the necessary seals to contain their jutsu. Naruto smiled, "Hehe! Sasuke you are awesome!" Sasuke shrugged, "It is done."_

_Complex marking forming a square decorated the ground below them. At the center of the diagram, the word "Tei" was written with blood on a rock. Surrounding the bloodied stone was a circle that touched the border of the square. Within the diagonal spaces of the square, three small circles were drawn with the words "Shi" on them. The "Teishi" seal, a powerful seal Sasuke had learned to freeze chakra in place as a means to carry all forms chakra without having to concentrate on keeping it stable, was prepared. _

_Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan came to life and summoned the black flames of Amaterasu. He, then, shot them out to the sky while using his left hand to guide them. The heat caused the pressure in the sky to change, and soon, lightning and thunders claimed the sky. With his right hand, he withdrew the lightning the sky and concentrated it around his right hand. Then, with the left hand, he guided the flames of Amaterasu to dissolve into tiny heated particles of Amaterasu flames. Exhausted, Sasuke clapped his hand and the induced the natural energies from both hands into one another, forming a orb-shaped lightning filled with bits of black lightning and black fire. "Enton: Jigoku Rei!"_

_Naruto, in his nine-tails chakra mode, made a Rasengan. A clone sat down to focus the energies of his recently discovered ability. A second clone stood, focused on Naruto, preparing to warn the rest in case Madara stroke. Without warning, the first clone summoned the renowned chakra chains of the Uzumaki clan. He sent them towards Naruto's Rasengan. With his other hand, Naruto separated the chakra of the chakra chains filled with the Uzumaki 's vitality and imbued them into his Rasengan. "Uzumaki-Sei Rasengan!"_

_Madara watched, surprised at the degree of talent before his eyes. 'It is such a shame…' As he observed the progress of the youngsters' jutsus, he realized what the Jinchuuriki had tried to do! 'Hahaha…You have amazed me again, nine-tails Jinchuuriki...! By combining Sasuke's Uchiha jutsu, which is filled with Yin Energy, with your jutsu that contains the Uzumaki's Yang Energy, you plan to breakthrough my chakra repulsing cloak! It would definitely work, but you think I would let you hit me with a jutsu composed of Perfect Chakra…Truly, it is a shame you both are going to die!'_

_Madara immediately slashed his way through the 18 Naruto clones, and materialized between Naruto and Sasuke. Just as he is about to slash them with his scythe, both of Naruto's clones replaced them with their Kawarimi no Jutsu! Appearing a couple of meters behind Madara, Naruto and Sasuke pressed their chakra-saturated jutsus into the seal. _

_"Seal!" Sasuke quickly used his chakra to turn the words on the stone and immediately, all the markings fused into the stone, transforming into a purple cube. _

_'Damn it! Brats…' cursed Madara. He turned around and prepared to swing his scythe at them. Sasuke saw this, and released a slash of black flames towards the ground under Madara, distorting Madara's aim. "Take the cube Naruto!" snapped Sasuke as he prepared a second Enton-powered Kagetsuchi. _

_Swiftly, Naruto nodded and picked up the cube before jumping towards the side of a mountain. "Sasuke, it is not ready yet! You haven't used the second seal yet!"_

_Releasing his second swing of black flames at Madara, Sasuke shot up from the ground and landed next to Naruto. "On it."_

_All of a sudden, the both of them felt a shockwave hit them and were sent blown away in opposite directions! Madara stretched his neck after having released a chakra burst. Once again, he went straight for Sasuke, who while being blown away, was beginning on another seal on the cube. He noticed that the cube was slowly transforming into a sphere. _

_'If he completes it, it is going to be annoying…Die my foolish descendant! ' Madara launched himself at full speed towards Sasuke. 'It is ove-'_

_Madara's thought were broken by a Bijuudama crashed against his side by Naruto. 'Damn it! I didn't sense him!'_

_"Heh! Take that yo- eh?" Naruto's Bijuudama had been dispelled by Madara's cloak, and with a single fluid movement, Madara had turned and sent a round house kick against Naruto's stomach, sending the blonde Jinchuuriki blasting away again. The kick had also distorted all of the Kyubi's chakra around Naruto away. _

_Sasuke had completed the seal. He looked up and saw a quickly approaching Madara! "Keh!" he prepared for the worse. _

_But it never came. _

_"Sasuke get him!" _

_Sasuke looked up again, towards the direction of the voice of the loudest person he'd known. Naruto had bind Madara with chakra chains that were simultaneously quickly being disintegrated by Madara's grey energy cloak and integrated again by Naruto's life force. _

_Leaping off the side of the mountain of where he stood, Sasuke charged at Madara with full speed! The elder Uchiha had broken free of the chains and slashed Naruto a couple of times before turning around to deal with the approaching young Uchiha. It was too late._

_"Shippuden no Jutsu!"_

_Once again, a booming explosion resonated throughout clearing and could be heard from hundreds of miles away…_

**_(End of Flashback)_**

Sasuke sighed at the memories.

"Damn it…"

He was currently gazing at the spars outside on the training ground. There were academy students practicing their taijutsu stances with the instructor and there were those sparring to be graded. Sasuke smiled as he looked on from the windowsill. They reminded him of his brothers; of how Itachi used to teach him shuriken throwing and how Naruto used to be his sparring partner most of the time.

From his left pocket, he took out Naruto's headband. He had removed the black cloth on it, leaving only the dented, scratched silver plate. "Dobe..," he scowled, eyes filled with regret.

Soon, he had placed the plate back into the pockets of his black pants.

"Everyone! Gather up! The mourning ceremony is going to begin in two hours! You may all go home! Your parents are waiting outside!" announced one of the instructors.

And again, his smile was gone. He looked down at his bandaged right arm and frowned. "Cheh..."

"I see you are snappy as usual, Sasuke," commented a voice behind him. Iruka walked over to Sasuke and smiled. "You need help getting to the ceremony?"

Sasuke looked at his former teacher and shrugged. "Sakura should still be around."

Upon mentioning her name, the door to the classroom opened, and Sakura came in. "Good morning, Iruka-sensei." She bowed politely. She wore a simple, black, short-sleeved shirt along with a pair of skinny, black pants that went to her knees.

Iruka smiled and rubbed the back of his head, "Morning Sakura! My, my! You have truly blossomed." He walked over to collect a clipboard and a pencil from the table. "Well, I really should get going now to pick up the students. See you two later."

Sakura nodded and walked over to Sasuke. "Take care, Iruka-sensei!" she said just as the mentioned person left.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you ready?"

"Nn…"

Another sigh escaped his mouth before he began to tidy up his black, buttoned shirt, and unlock the brakes of his wheelchair.

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"I miss him…"

Sakura was momentarily startled and managed a small smile as she looked down. "Me too…"

"Sakura?"

"Yes, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke turned to his pink-haired teammate and smiled sincerely, "Thank you."

Sakura gasped. She had never seen that smile on Sasuke's face. The old her would have squealed with delight and shown off to everyone. But she was different now. She smiled sincerely back, happier than before. "You are welcome."

And with that, the both of them headed towards the newly erected memorial stone atop the Hokage Mountain.

* * *

**_Later at the Hokage Mountain…_**

Cameras were spread out about the vicinity. They were wired together and covered in a layer of earth-made tube that stretched down to the Hokage tower below. Shinobi and kunoichi from the Yamanaka clan sat within the underground basement of the Hokage tower, equipped with chakra transmission communication devices and fully prepared to broadcast their signal to connect with neighboring nations. The neighboring nations would, then, receive and seed this same frequency into other neighboring nations. Yamanaka Ino, with her headset on, formed the necessary seals before commanding, "Everyone, be ready to start testing broadcast on the count of three! Three…! Two…! One..! Ishindenshin no Jutsu!"

Across the Fire Country to the edges of the Lightning Country, Water Country, Wind Country, and Earth Country, the chakra frequency permeated without disruption. From the edges of these countries, the signal was leeched and seeded before being bounced to surrounding stations.

Up on the Hokage Mountain, Tsunade waited for Ino's international connections. Konoha shinobi and kunoichi filled the area, leaving only the cliff atop Yondaime's head with space, as it was where the memorial stone had been built. On the uppermost portion of the stone, the masterful carvings read:

"In Memory and Honor of the Brave Heroes Who Sacrificed Their Lives in the Fourth Shinobi War"

Underneath these words, the kanji for "Uzumaki Naruto" were inscribed. And below Naruto's name, were the names of all the other heroes who had lost their lives in the line of service, albeit a bit smaller in font size.

Bundles after bundles of flowers decorated the 30-foot tall, white tablet. Candles safely lit in glass containers were placed around the stone tablet in a circle. Offerings of food, drinks, clothes, and incenses decorated the wooden altar before the tablet.

Sasuke sat on his wheelchair and observed the view from the mountain. He looked down upon the village with a nostalgic expression. _'I will protect you all…just as my brothers did…_'

An hour later, Sasuke observed the rituals. Prayers were recited. Children mourn the loss of their parents. Parents for the loss of their children. Siblings shed tears with one another. Teammates released their sorrow. Teachers comforted. Sasuke looked at his peers. They all cried. Yet, he wasn't. He had voiced his the hollowness of his heart already. He had resolved to fill it up and embrace the Will of Fire. The Curse of Hatred was no more.

He pondered on the feelings that had been expressed a while ago by some of his peers.

**_(Flashback)_**

_"Naruto was a friend and a brother I will never forget…He always tried his best to keep his promises and protect us from harm," Sakura had said. _

**_(Flashback end)_**

'_I will keep my promises and live life honorably, happily protecting you all from any harm._'

**_(Flashback)_**

_"Naruto-niichan will always be the best brother ever! He always supported me and taught me jutsus…I will continue to try my best to catch up to him!" Konohamaru sniffed in tears, "Just you watch, Boss! Even if there are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage like you said, I will become Hokage!" _

**_(Flashback end)_**

'_No shortcuts…I will support all of Konoha for you, dobe…Hokage or not…_'

**_(Flashback)_**

_"Man…He was always so reckless and troublesome…But he always had this aura around him that made you want to follow him…Naruto, you were an idiot. But you were the best idiot ever…Damn it, Naruto…I would trade all the trouble in the world just to have you back!" cried Shikamaru as Chouji patted him on the side._

**_(Flashback end)_**

Sasuke closed his eyes and remembered one of Naruto's last words to him before their last showdown with Madara,

**_(Flashback)_**

_"Sasuke! If you want to be Hokage, you have got to have everyone acknowledge you!" Naruto shouted as shot off the ground towards the Juubi, a Wakusei Rasengan in hand. A grin graced his features. Sasuke simply shrugged and prepared his hawk summons, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_

**_(Flashback end)_**

'_It is just as you said, Naruto_…'

Sasuke looked back at the platform where Tsunade now stood, concluding her eulogy on Naruto.

"Naruto…he was always a rude, loud-mouthed brat…but that loud mouth of his never failed to make put a smile on our faces. This isn't a time to grieve his death, but rather, a time to celebrate his life. Naruto would have never wanted us to live life crying. He always wanted everyone happy. So, now, as we lay our memories of him to better rest, let's reminisce back to how he touched our lives and brought this peace forth. At this moment, we should all feel thankful that we were given the chance to have known this great shinobi named Naruto…We should be thankful to him and all these other shinobi and kunoichi that stood together that are now, but names on a tablet. Know that they all rest in a better place now. He and the thousands of nins who sacrificed their lives for our sake will forever live on…within the warmest boundaries of our hearts. So, to all those present today and across the great nations, live on happily and peacefully for the sake of all these men and women whose names are written on this tablet…! Arigatou, minna-san." Tears streamed down from the Godaime Hokage's eyes as she smiled on. They were an outpour of feelings of joy and loss.

The crowd, like the Hokage, beamed with joy, but continued to grieve one last time.

Sasuke looked up towards the sky, watching the hundreds of birds that fluttered about in the sky, almost if they were also there to mourn and celebrate along. Shedding a single tear, he smiled.

"Arigatou, Naruto."

* * *

**_The Next Day…_**

Six monitors were placed, aligned, on the table at the front of the room. Under each monitor, the kanji for "Water," "Lightning," "Wind," "Earth," "Iron," and "Feudal Lord" were assigned. In front of the table, extending to the back of the room, was a long mahogany wood table able of sitting about ten people on each side. The walls were painted a pale, light pink-orange with a deep, emerald green lower frame. On the left walls facing the door, hung the portraits of the four previous Hokage. They seemed to have been moved more to the left from the center.

'_Don't tell me this meeting is about…_' Sakura had observed. She turned her gaze to her mentor, waiting for the meeting to begin.

Suddenly, all the monitors switched on, and the Kage of the main elemental nations along with the Fire Country's daimyo and Land of Iron's Mifune appeared on the screen.

A, the Raikage, began, "Isn't it a bit too early, Hokage?"

"So, at last, you have decided. I should begin to ponder on mine as well!" said the Oonoki, the Tsuchikage.

Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, frowned, "Perhaps, I should also do the same. I am not getting younger and younger by the day, after all."

Gaara of the Sand, the Kazekage, simply nodded as a greeting and acknowledgement.

Tsunade, the Hokage, smirked and welcomed them. "I am already feeling a bit exasperated by this method. Anyways, I have decided to retire! This is a meeting to elect the new Hokage!"

The other members of the room, consisting of clan leaders and the Konoha Council, were surprised and confused. From the monitors and forefront of the table, on the left, sat the clan leaders: Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Nara Shikamaru, Izunuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Uzumaki Karin. On the right, from front to back, sat the council members: Homura Mitokado and Utatane Koharu. Uchiha Sasuke sat on his wheelchair, at the end of the room.

Tsunade continued, "Before any of you can ask any questions, allow me to explain." She grinned, "Despite my appearances, I am growing too old and would like to spend the rest of my life without worry…Therefore, In order to establish and prolong the peace we have reached, the other Kages, Mifune of the Iron, and I have decided to involve one another on critical situations regarding our villages such as this. This way, we can have an initial acknowledgement and understanding of him or her who is going to represent their respective hidden village as an ally in the Allied Shinobi Nations. I had planned for Kakashi, but in his current condition, it won't be possible. We will be choosing our Rokudaime Hokage."

All those seated were surprised to say the least, but quickly regained their composure in understanding. Tsunade needed an emotional break from the loss of two more dear ones.

'_A form of goodwill, I guess.._,' thought Sasuke, resting his chin on his one good hand as his arm leaned on the armrest, '_interesting_…'

Tsunade nodded, glad that everyone accepted the ordeal. She glanced at Homura and Koharu. They were smiling kindly with a nostalgic look in their eyes at first, but as soon as they noticed her gaze, their expressions returned to impassive ones, although a slight shade of pink crossed their face.

'_Haha I guess they are also glad that a time like this has come_,' smiled Tsunade, turning her attention back towards the monitors with a serious look, "Let's begin."

From Mizukage's screen, a cough was heard. "Haha I guess I will be the first to nominate. I would like to nominate kunoichi of the leaf, Haruno Sakura," she smiled.

'_EEEHHH!?_'Sakura was shocked.

'Makes sense...I think…meh…too troublesome to think…' Shikamaru shrugged.

Sasuke smiled.

The Kages were deep in thought.

Everyone else, just nodded.

Tsunade had raised an eyebrow but nodded, asking, "Mizukage, please elaborate."

Mizukage raised an eyebrow and chuckled, "Formalities, eh?" She sighed, ''Haruno Sakura is a highly capable kunoichi with many talents despite her lack of advanced bloodline limit. With chakra control that enables her to both exponentially increase the impact of her attacks and quickly perform medical ninjutsu during battles, she is one of the most complete ninjas around in terms of battle adequacy. I dare say that she is probably going to catch up to you soon, Hokage. Also, she is able to make smart choices, as I have observed while she treated the soldiers earlier in the war."

Sakura had blushed when Tsunade had nodded in agreement, '_T-thank you, shisho…!_'

She was surprised to also see that everyone else had acknowledged her abilities; so surprised that inner Sakura couldn't help herself, '_THAT'S RIGHT! OH YEAH! I ROCK!_'

Stars gleamed in her eyes. Sasuke smirked while most sweat-dropped.

"If I may, I would like to nominate someone else," the Raikage spoke, bringing everyone's attention towards him, "Nara Shikamaru."

Before anyone could react, Raikage pressed on, "Amidst the war, Shikamaru had quickly taken up Nara Shikaku's position as Chief Strategist, efficiently commanding our forces to victory. At such a young age, his intellect and wisdom match those required of a Kage. Although not the strongest, it is obvious that he possess one of the greatest leadership skills."

Shikamaru gulped, startled. Everyone smiled.

'_M-me? Maann….this is so troublesome…But…Naruto, I will protect this village with my life…'_

He nodded in acknowledgement.

Sasuke remained silent but managed a small smirk, 'Shikamaru…somewhat unexpected but expected at the same time…I see he was also affected and has changed.'

"Very well! Anyone else would like to declare another nominee?" Tsunade's voice filled the room as she glanced at each person in the room. Her gaze, at last, fell on a certain member of the room.

"Alright, in that case, I will nominate one last person," she said, surprising everyone.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

**_To be continued…_**

* * *

[Author's Note]

Hope you all enjoyed it! It was supposed to be longer, but I had to save some goodies for later. I don't like making people wait. Anyways, here are some translations for original jutsus:

猿田毗古の光 (Sarutahiko no Hikari) – Sarutahiko's Light

疾風伝の術 (Shippūden no Jutsu) – Deathly Hurricane Technique

生命力-遁: 創作之死 (Inochiryoku-ton: Sōsaku no Shi) – Life Force Release: Creation's Death

生命力-遁: 斥力のマント (Inochiryoku-tonSekiryoku no Manto) Life Force Release: Repulsion Cloak

封印術: 災難停止のキューブ (Fūinjutsu: Sainan Teishi no Kyubu) Sealing Teachnique: Disaster Suspension Cube

炎遁: 地獄雷 (Enton: Jigoku Rei) Blaze Release: Lightning of Hell

うずまき生 螺旋丸 (Uzumaki-sei Rasengan) Uzumaki Spiraling Sphere

If you have any related questions, please don't hesitate to ask! Thanks for reading-appu!


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